A first-grade teacher is working with a student who struggles to recognize rhyming words. Which of the following activities would best help the student develop phonemic awareness?

Reading aloud to the student and pointing out rhyming words is an effective strategy for developing phonemic awareness, particularly in young learners who may struggle with this skill. This activity allows the teacher to model the concept of rhyming in a context that is engaging and interactive. By hearing the teacher emphasize the rhyming words, the student can start to make connections between sounds and recognize patterns in language.

This approach not only promotes phonemic awareness but also enhances the student’s listening skills and auditory discrimination. Additionally, the visual and contextual cues provided during the read-aloud help reinforce the connection between the words and their sounds, making it easier for the student to internalize the concept of rhyming.

Other activities listed, such as identifying the first sound in a word or clapping out syllables, focus on different aspects of phonemic awareness, such as initial sound recognition and syllable segmentation, rather than directly on rhyming. Writing rhyming words in a journal is beneficial for later stages of learning, as it involves spelling and writing skills, rather than the foundational auditory discrimination skills needed for recognizing rhymes in speech.